


One Bright Spark

by branwensiblings



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, its just punching so i dont think it needs a graphic depictions of violence tag?, just be aware that there's punching and kicking in this fic im sorry im not sure how to tag this, this was written before we really met tai in canon so i apologise if he's slightly ooc, yang beats up some people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 11:54:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9489941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/branwensiblings/pseuds/branwensiblings
Summary: aka How To Discover Your Semblance As Painlessly As PossibleThe story of how Yang discovered her semblance.





	

For years, people have argued over what true rage is. Is it a fire, obliterating everything in its path? Is it an emotion, an abstract concept, a visual representation? The true form of rage, it turns out, is more spectacular and terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined.

It is an eleven year old girl whose baby sister just got pushed over by the school bully.

Yang growled, cracking her knuckles, and marched straight towards the boy. She matched him in height, staring him directly in the eyes. "Hey!" she glared, jabbing him in the shoulder. "What do you think you're doing, picking on my sister?" On the floor behind Yang, Ruby sniffed and inspected her grazed knee. To Yang it looked like a war wound.

The bully shrugged. "She was in my way."

Yang felt a heat burning inside of her, reaching out, stretching to the tips of her fingers and the top of her head. Her voice came out in a growl as she stepped forwards, nose to nose with the bully. "Well, you're in my way. Meet me after school at the park." She saw a flash of something in his eyes, something she couldn't quite place, before he took a small step backwards. "Fine. I'll be there."

For the rest of the lunch break Ruby pleaded with Yang not to go. "He might hurt you!" she squeaked, clinging on to her sister's arm. Yang said nothing. She continued wrapping her hair ribbon around her knuckles like bandages; she'd seen it once in a movie and thought it might help. She kept them on throughout her afternoon lessons, even when her teacher told her to remove them. She would be ready.

She stood in the middle of the park, waiting. Her fists shook in anticipation. A lone bee buzzed somewhere around her left hand side but she ignored it, turning once in a slow circle to survey her field. Ruby was directly behind her, but so were half her class. News had spread of the fight, and she'd rather sit in detention all month than lose the battle for her sister's right to stand wherever she wanted. Finally she spotted him, coming towards her from the far gate. She narrowed her eyes. It was time.

As he got closer Yang yelled across to him. "I'm giving you one last chance to apologise." The bully didn't come to a stop until about an arms length from her, the smirk on his face making his position clear.

"Scared, Xiao Long?"

Yang bared her teeth. "You wish."

Yang raised her fists in a boxing stance, adjusting her posture and preparing to circle. She knew how to do this, she took classes once a week, and she was the strongest kid there. The bully made the first move: an uncoordinated swing to the right hand side of her face. She dodged, grabbing his wrist as she did so and twisting it. A jab to the face. Swipe with the feet and back up again before he could take advantage of her balance. It was clear the boy didn't really know what he was doing, it was almost easy. Just as she aimed for the finishing blow to his stomach, she felt something smack the side of her head. The crowd audibly winced. It was followed by jabs to her side, back, stomach, seemingly everywhere. Her eyes scrunched up in pain and she toppled sideways. Yang hit the floor and rolled onto her back, kicking up at whatever had hit her. Her boot made contact with another boy's face.

He cheated, she suddenly realised. He'd brought his friends to back him up! If there was one thing she hated more than bullies, it was cheaters. A backwards roll gave her enough momentum to push up onto her feel, returning to a defensive stance. She cast her eyes around. The bully was still on the floor, but not down for the count. His friend, a boy Yang recognised as Ash from her class, was rubbing his face. She could spot one more boy out of the corner of her eye, edging towards her.

In one swift move she span around and aimed a punch at his stomach. The boy doubled over, which Yang used as an opportunity to bring her knee into his face. She then kicked him away, barely hearing his cry over the adrenaline pumping around her brain. One down. Almost too easy. It was like she'd somehow become stronger in the past minute. She took on Ash next, launching a barrage of punches around his face and neck. He kicked out at her legs in an attempt to stop her but she hooked her leg around his, yanking him over and slamming him to the ground. Finally she stormed over to the bully, breathing heavily. She picked him up by the front of his shirt. He avoided her gaze, eyes wide and searching for help.

"What do you say, Cyan? Feel up to that apology yet?"

The bully burst into tears. "Yes! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." His words jumbled together through his sobs, teardrops and snot dripping down his face as well as a tiny bit of blood. Yang smiled, proud of her handiwork.

"Well then, we're done-"

"YANG XIAO LONG, WHAT IN REMNANT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

Uh-oh.

She dropped the bully and turned around. A very angry Taiyang Xiao Long was marching towards her, a nervous looking Ruby following close behind. Yang gulped.

"C'mon, kids, show's over." Taiyang ushered the other kids away, heading first not to Yang, but to the three boys she had fought. "Hey, how're you doing? Can you stand?" he asked gently. Yang scowled. The three boys managed to stand up and help each other out of the park, with Taiyang promising to telephone their parents to help explain matters. Then he turned to Yang.

"I can explain-" she began, before stopping in surprise. Her dad had wrapped her up in a hug, holding her tightly. Eventually he let go and held her at arms length.

"Yang, you can't just pick fights with people." Yang frowned. Wasn't that a bit hypocritical from the guy who beat up monsters for a living?

"But he hurt Ruby!"

"I know." Taiyang sighed. "I'm not saying it wasn't the right thing to do. I'm saying it was the dangerous thing to do. You didn't know how strong those boys were, or if there were more of them. It might not seem dangerous in sixth grade, but you could get pretty hurt if you did that in the real world."

Yang's eyebrows knitted together, confused. "But I won!"

"Yeah, and we're gonna need to talk about that too." Taiyang sighed. He fished in his pocket and grabbed a fistful of lien. "Hey Rubes, you wanna grab some ice cream from that vendor over there?" he asked the girl, silently wondering why the vendor didn't do anything about the Child Wrestling Federation match taking place in his front yard. The girl perked up and nodded, taking the money and skipping over to the vendor. Now her father was here, it seemed she didn't feel the need to worry any more.

Taiyang guided Yang over to the bench and sat down, patting the space next to him. She sat, wondering what was so important that he sent Ruby away. She knew how adults worked. Taiyang sighed again, then began.

"Yang, how did you feel in that fight?"

Whatever she was expecting him to say, this was not it. She blinked.

"Uh..." She thought back, playing through the moments in her mind. "At first I was... determined, I guess. I wanted to win for Ruby, and I wanted to teach him a lesson. Then when his friends hit me and I realised he'd cheated, I got mad." She remembered how it felt like her entire body was on fire, and not just from her injuries. "It was like the anger made me stronger, and I beat up the others really easy. But I couldn't stop. It felt... good."

Yang cast her eyes down. Did that make her bad? That she liked fighting? Taiyang watched her for a few seconds, then placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him.

"You know what I think, Yang? I think that you activated your semblance in that fight." Yang's eyes widened. "You say your anger made you stronger? Maybe. What I think happened was that the feeling of being hurt made you stronger. The hits, the injustice of the situation, it all made you more powerful. And you know what else happened, Yang? What made me think it was your semblance?" Yang shook her head, taking everything in carefully. Taiyang smiled.

"It was your eyes, Yang. You turned around to face me and your eyes were red, like... like Uncle Qrow's. They're lilac again now," he hastily clarified as Yang's hands went up to her face, "but for a moment there they were red. That's how I knew something had happened, and it wouldn't be the first time in our family history that someone got stronger through pain." Taiyang's gaze went blank for a few seconds, or maybe they were looking too far, lost in his memories for a moment or two. He blinked and returned his attention to Yang.

"But this can be a curse as well as a blessing, Yang. You must never let your pain and hurt control you. You understand?"

Slowly, Yang nodded. Taiyang wrapped her in a hug again. He felt a tear appear in the corner of his eye. He couldn't help it; his first baby was growing up, and soon he wouldn't be able to protect her all the time. He was brought out of his thoughts by Ruby bounding over to them, holding two ice cream cones in her small hands.

"I got one for you too, Yang!" she smiled. Yang grinned back at her and took the cone.

"I'll race you to eat it first. Three-two-one-go!" She quickly began to eat the ice cream. Ruby began to squawk indignantly about how that wasn't fair, before realising that talking would slow her down and instead began focusing her energy on eating.

Taiyang smirked. Maybe his girls weren't growing up quite as quickly as he thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Tai probably needs to have a chat with Yang about using violence to solve her problems but that's an issue for another day.


End file.
